[afren] Fwd: [AfrICANN-discuss] Press Release: Strengthening the Internet Infrastructure for Research & Education

[Adiel A. Akplogan]

FYI.

Begin forwarded message:

> From: "Lillian O. Sharpley" <lillian at afrinic.net>
> Date: March 29, 2010 10:34:07 AM GMT+04:00
> To: africann at afrinic.net, announce at afrinic.net
> Subject: [AfrICANN-discuss] Press Release: Strengthening the  
> Internet Infrastructure for Research & Education
> Reply-To: africann at afrinic.net
>
> For Immediate Release
>
> http://www.afrinic.net/press_release_MOU_300310.htm
>
>
>     "Strengthening the Internet Infrastructure for Research &  
> Education "
>
> In recognition of the invaluable potential of Research and Education
> Institutions in the African region and to further Internet development
> processes, the Association of African Universities (AAU) and the  
> African Network
> Information Centre (AfriNIC), have signed a Memorandum of  
> Understanding (MoU) to
> support the membership cost of registration for Internet Protocol  
> (IP) resources
> through AfriNIC. In this agreement, which is now effective, the AAU  
> will cover
> the remaining 50% of the setup and first year membership fees (up to  
> a maximum
> of $5,000 USD per member) for eligible African Academic and Research
> institutions, as well as Research and Education Networks (RENs) that  
> request IP
> address resources. These members will then have to make provisions for
> subsequent year membership fees.
>
> "IP address allocations must be considered critical for universities’
> infrastructure in order to improve inter-campus communications as  
> well as
> increase information sharing for a productive and efficient use of  
> the Internet
> as a learning tool and for research and development" says Dr.  
> Boubakar Barry,
> Coordinator, Research and Education Networking Unit, AAU.
>
> This incentive builds on the already existing and permanent benefit  
> that AAU
> members and other African educational and research institutions  
> enjoy, which is
> a 50% discount offered by AfriNIC for their annual membership fees  
> for IP Number
> resource allocations or assignments.
>
> "This new agreement between AAU and AfriNIC is expected to make  
> African
> universities and academic institutions more visible on the Internet  
> as they can
> significantly decrease the use of NAT by using publicly routable IP  
> address.
> Currently, many universities have hundreds of computers and  
> thousands of student
> devices behind Network or Port Address Translation (NAT/PAT).  
> Universities in
> our region should lead our effort to fight the myth of NAT and  
> restore the
> Internet's end-to-end paradigm. Deploying an infrastructure based on  
> public IP
> addresses is also a key factor for a smooth transition to IPv6 in  
> such a campus
> environment" says Mr. Adiel Akplogan, CEO, AfriNIC.
>
> The AAU and AfriNIC wish to thank TENET and its FRENIA program for  
> providing the
> first grant that allowed the start of this initiative. There are  
> more ongoing
> discussions to increasing AfriNIC’s training activities within  
> academic
> institutions. Currently, only 18 countries in the African region  
> have at least
> one university that has its own assignment/allocation. Additionally,  
> allocations
> to Education Networks represents six percent (6%) of the total  
> allocation in the
> African region, with South Africa having 82% of these (most of which  
> are legacy
> assignments), followed by Kenya and Mozambique, both having four  
> percent (4%),
> then Egypt with three percent (3%).
>
> For further information please contact renu[at]aau.org and/or
> contact[at]afrinic.net. Additional information on the application  
> process can be
> obtained at http://www.aau.org/announce/detail.htm?ai=251
>
> Additional information about benefits of becoming an AfriNIC member  
> or about the
> incentives for universities and academic institutions can be found at
> http://www.afrinic.net/projects/afrinic_aau.htm.
>
> The Association of African Universities (AAU) is the apex  
> organisation and forum
> for consultation, exchange of information and cooperation among  
> institutions of
> higher education in Africa. For additional information, visit www.aau.net 
> .
>
> The African Network Information Center (AfriNIC) is the Regional  
> Internet
> Registry (RIR) for Africa, responsible for the distribution and  
> management of
> Internet number resources throughout the African region.
>
> Contact: Lillian Sharpley
> Communications Area Manager
> press at afrinic.net
> AfriNIC
> www.afrinic.net
>
> _______________________________________________
> AfrICANN mailing list
> AfrICANN at afrinic.net
> https://lists.afrinic.net/mailman/listinfo.cgi/africann

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